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First Name: Shinyei

Last Name: Nakamine

Birthplace: Oahu, HI, USA

Gender: Male

Branch: Army (1784 - present)



Home of Record: Honolulu, HI




Date of Birth: 21 January 1920

Date of Death: 02 June 1944

Rank: Private

Years Served: 1941 - 1944
Shinyei Nakamine

   
Engagements:
•  World War II (1941 - 1945)

Biography:

Shinyei Nakamine

Private, U.S. Army

Medal of Honor Recipient

World War II

Private Shinyei Nakamine (21 January 1920 - 2 June 1944) was a U.S. Army soldier who was posthumously awarded the U.S. military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his heroic actions during World War II.

Shinyei Nakamine was born on 21 January 1920 in Waianae, Oahu, HI. On 2 June 1944, he was serving with the 100th Infantry Battalion near La Torreto, Italy, and was killed in action. His extraordinary heroism that day earned him the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC).

In the 1990s, Congress directed the Secretary of the Army to review all awards of the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) to Americans of Japanese and Pacific Islands' descent to determine if racial bias had influenced the awards process. Twenty-two awards of the DSC were determined to have qualified for upgrade to the Medal of Honor. In a ceremony at the White House on 21 June 2000, Nakamine's surviving family was presented with his Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton. Twenty-one other Asian Americans also received the Medal during the ceremony; all but seven of them posthumously.

Medal of Honor

Citation: Private Shinyei Nakamine distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 2 June 1944, near La Torreto, Italy. During an attack, Private Nakamine's platoon became pinned down by intense machine gun crossfire from a small knoll 200 yards to the front. On his own initiative, Private Nakamine crawled toward one of the hostile weapons. Reaching a point 25 yards from the enemy, he charged the machine gun nest, firing his submachine gun, and killed three enemy soldiers and captured two. Later that afternoon, Private Nakamine discovered an enemy soldier on the right flank of his platoon's position. Crawling 25 yards from his position, Private Nakamine opened fire and killed the soldier. Then, seeing a machine gun nest to his front approximately 75 yards away, he returned to his platoon and led an automatic rifle team toward the enemy. Under covering fire from his team, Private Nakamine crawled to a point 25 yards from the nest and threw hand grenades at the enemy soldiers, wounding one and capturing four. Spotting another machine gun nest 100 yards to his right flank, he led the automatic rifle team toward the hostile position but was killed by a burst of machine gun fire. Private Nakamine's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.

Medals and Awards

Medal of Honor
Purple Heart

Death and Burial

Private Shinyei Nakamine was killed in action on 2 June 1944. He is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, HI, in Section D, Grave 402.



Honoree ID: 1561   Created by: MHOH

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